Topic: We manage our own properties. The tenant pool is very thin this year.

We manage our own properties. The tenant pool is very thin this year. Out of 17 applications we have had, we have only be able to approve 5 so far this year. Is anyone else having to wade through numerous applications before you can find a decent tenant?

What is the reasons for the denials?

Megan Goodmundson job hoppers (changes jobs every fee months) , work for temp agencies as hire outs, low credit scores, evictions, unpaid judgements to previous landlords, or previous landlords tell us they would definitely NOT rent to them again. Incomplete applications with conflicting answers.

I haven’t had too many vacancies yet. But I did notice in the few we had the credit requirement was a bit of an issue. I run them as they come in and if I get an applicant that meets all the requirements. I refund the rest of the application fees as I will not be processing them (if I have multiple applications at the same time)

We are having considerable trouble finding qualified tenants. We use RealPage Business Intelligence and it shows a lead to move in conversion rate of 0.3% at some lower income properties in my portfolio. Moderate to upper income properties have higher conversion ratios, but are still below pre-pandemic levels. I think there is an intentional withdrawing from the market from many qualified potential applicants… perhaps waiting for rents to further drop.

You either need to check your advertising source or you need to check your actual criteria to make sure it’s not unrealistic

Yes, lower your standards. As a country, it's happening every where...!

Sorry, bad day...

We use a scoring system. In addition to a minimum credit score, and sufficient income, we award "points" for various factors...lenghth of time on job, cooperativeness on follow ups, having a checking, savings and 401(k) contributions, neatness of appearance and good demeanor when interviewed, having required move In funds up front, or cash for extra deposits for animals. If they don't score a minimum of 15 points, we reject the applicant.

I’d recommend chatting with a local attorney about your qualifying criteria. It sounds like you’re wide open for fair housing lawsuits. Specifically referencing “cooperativeness with follow ups, neatness of appearance and good demeanor when interviewed”.

I have properties in certain areas where we are declining way more than we are approving.

We had 3 apps one week and 2 were denied. For the whole month of Feb, so far, only 3 denials and 10 total apps.

We went with a new program with Transunion. It has helped us find good residents through this screening program and our decline rate has gone down.

5 denials & zero approvals in the last 2 weeks!!! This is NOT the normal for my community.

Most definitely. Some of my vacants I've leased 3 or 4 times. Applicant gets mad even though if they call me first and not just lease sight unseen, I would be more than happy to explain what is required before they spend that app fee!

YES! So challenging right now!

I would think with increase eviction your gonna see an increased in denied application. Our courts process hundreds of cases daily thru out several courts . But yes check your seo key words will help increase traffic

We also have seen applicants who can’t meet the rental criteria - false pay stubs, criminal record , bad rental history. It’s definitely been challenging. We use Facebook marketplace a lot and 99 percent of the info requests don’t even qualify or move forward with showing / apps

I wonder if this is due to the massive increase in rents in the last two years? People are feeling really stretched thin?

Same for the last 6 months or so.

January we had 29 applications/ 17 denials. So much fraudulent right now

Ive never heard of denials for job hopping or for working at temp agency. I realize private owners have way more wiggle room but perhaps the criteria has been set too strict for the market you serve.